My first zills *o*

Selene

New member
I just wanted to share with you my excitement after receiving my first zills.

Okay, first I have TERRIBLE hand posture -.- I need a LOT of practice, but playing (trying to) the zills makes me self concious of my hands all the time while (trying to) dancing. Its hard to dance and play the zills at the same time, but i guess its hard for everyone when they start.

I want to know what your experience was like with your first zills ^_^
 

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Farasha Hanem

New member
Oh, golly, I have a set of zills just like those! :D

Hmmmm, my first zills...I bought a little Bellydance mini-kit that came in a tiny box years ago, when I was still going it alone with instructional DVDs and books. It included a miniature "instructional" booklet on how to bellydance, a blingy naval sticker, and a cheap, inferior set of zills (I didn't care, I still loved them). I bought two other different bellydance "kits," each including a set of zills. The thing with zills, though, is once you have one set, you HAVE to have more! It's an addiction, just like costumes... >.>;;;
 

Mosaic

Super Moderator
Congrats on your new zills:) After years I think I'm still dreadful at playing zills. But yes it does get better with practice. For me it was lots & lots & lots of practice. I can do it, but tend to avoid them if I can:)
~Mosaic
 

nitewindz

New member
My first teacher always played zills in class, and required her students to have zills from the second session on. This was in the late 70s/early 80s long before the internet. She used a vendor in FL that sold Saroyans. We placed a group order. My first set was Arabesques, and I still have them.

For a long time I really disliked zills. They were loud, I could not play and dance and sounded terrible! After a few years, someone suggested larger zills. So I bought a used pair of large zills. They were louder, but harder to play due to size, and sounded even worse.

Then someone gave me a set of heavy weight Saroyan historic zills. They fit my hand and the extra weight made them easier to play. I started playing along at drum circles (not dancing just playing) and, suddenly, I liked them!

Now my favorite sets are Saroyan pro 2 brass and silver
 

Selene

New member
@Farasha ohhh mine also came in a kit with a booklet and a cd, but I think the seller changed the original zills of the packaged because the ones pictured are different, are plain in design. But i love these anyway, they are cute haha but i have to get used to them. Ahhh i am already wondering how other types of zills sound, but Im holding myself from buying more >< right now I cant even go to dance class because Im short on money, but Ill solve that eventually. Anyway, its very addicting playing them but I cant dance at all while playing hahah

@Mosaic I can imagine!!! For me just the fact of having to be self concious of my hands all the time while dancing is already difficult >< and with zills it will be even harder coordinating the dance with the music I play!!! I guess in some years Ill know how to do it properly(I hope!)

@nitewindz I read somewhere that is good to practice as much as possible with the zills, even if they are annoying at first, and I guess its true! And for the bigger zills, just the word "bigger" scares me! I have really small hands, and I can barely play the ones i have >< anyway, ive heard great things about Saroyans! Someday ill have to buy ones, and so many different tones! The music must be beautiful! If I ever get my hands in one of those Ill tell you my experience.


Btw, Im going to my first Hafla (the day after my bday wuhu!) and Im so excited!!! I am not going to perform or anything, just be part of the audience, but Im waiting ansiously, I dont know what to expect from it!
 

Zorba

"The Veiled Male"
Saroyans are zill crack... >.>;;; *clutches her pouch of Saroyans to her heart*

HEY! Those look suspiciously familiar... :lol:

Seriously, as a lifelong musician, playing zills wasn't too awfully hard. But play and dance at the same time? Oh my! It took me 6 or 8 weeks of DAILY practice - at least an hour - to be able to dance and play my instructor's simple Zill dance...

...and then I learned it wrong...

Had to unlearn my mistakes (Zills in the wrong part of the measure), and re-learn it correctly.

They really do help your hand and arm posture; I'm convinced my arms are better when I have Zills on, playing or not.
 

Selene

New member
I agree on that!!! I've notice that just by placing my zills on my fingers the hands get to the posture naturaly (of course it cant be seen in my pics xd) but oh gawd, I dont even know where to start, I dont have a dvd to practice so ill look for info and rythm paterns (at least I understand those well) to practice a little bit until I can go back to school.
 

Zorba

"The Veiled Male"
As I'm sure you know, there's a ton of CDs and videos for learning Zills.

This is the one I used:

Zills on Fire

They apparently now have at least some of it online and free. YMMV.
 
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